Chitika to spin off mobile segment

Westborough-based Chitika Inc., an Internet advertising company, on Wednesday announced it will spin off its mobile advertising business unit, Cidewalk.

Chitika is investing $4 million to fund the spinoff, according to a statement, and Cidewalk has purchased office space in Southborough to accommodate staffing growth. Its new office is at 154 Turnpike Road, Southborough, in space formerly occupied by Bodyscapes Fitness.

Chitika expects Cidewalk, launched in 2014, to generate $10 million in gross revenue over the next year, the statement said.

"It's clear that local mobile advertising has an incredible amount of untapped potential for small businesses," Chitika CEO Venkat Kolluri said in a statement. "By committing this funding to Cidewalk as a separate business unit, the platform and its staff will be well positioned to deliver on the promise of truly democratizing this burgeoning impactful ad technology."

Cidewalk's technology platform allows small businesses to create and distribute targeted local mobile advertisements, and is used by businesses across the U.S., the company said.

In addition to the spinoff, Cidewalk also announced a new agreement with Yahoo, which will allow Yahoo to distribute Cidewalk to Yahoo Small Business users, the company said.